


i don't wanna be your friend (i wanna kiss your lips)

by orphan_account



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: "i'm baby" -bede 2019, F/M, Friends to Lovers, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Slow Burn, T for swearing, i'm the only person that ships bede/hop so i have to do everything myself, oleana is trying her best, rose's bad parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21565054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Fae aren't real, say the inhabitants of Ballonlea. Fairy-type Pokémon exist, but Fae themselves are simply a myth, nothing more, nothing less. Still, Hop finds that the boy with violet eyes who lives in the forest certainly does exist.
Relationships: Beet | Bede/Hop (Pokemon), Rose | Chairman Rose/Olive | Oleana
Comments: 23
Kudos: 176





	1. somber country silence

**Author's Note:**

> hello I finally got an ao3. this idea has been floating around in my had for a while now (read: since i beat the game) and i really love these two fjdjfdfjd

Hop is six when he first wanders into the Tangle that surrounds Ballonlea.

“Don’t stray too far from the path!” his mother reminds him, ever the worrying sort, smoothing his hair out with her hands and adjusting his shirt, as if looking impeccable is important in a mysterious forest, “the fae won’t hesitate to take you away!”

It’s a story meant to frighten children into staying on the paths— everyone knows fae don’t exist, they’re an old housewife's tale passed down to each new generation of bright-eyed children. Still, Hop nods, like his mother has given him the most vital information in the world. Of course, to a six year old, any advice given by their mother is the most vital information in the world.

“I promise!” he vows, excitedly bouncing from foot to foot. The Tangle can be dangerous, but he’s confident! Besides, it’s not like he’ll get lost! Everything is so glowy in there! He turns around, and runs for the door of their house, not giving his mother any more time to fuss over his hair.

“Be back before sundown!” his mother calls out, “you don’t want to end up like your brother!”

That gives Hop a moment’s pause, of course. Everyone in town uses Leon’s disappearance as a cautionary tale about getting lost in the Tangle, citing the loss of the exuberant boy as reason to never stray from the established paths that weave between the trees. He nods, and runs for the forest, not staying to listen to another word of his mother’s protest.

He feels a slight bit of apprehension as he takes those first steps into the forest. Sunlight just barely streams through the thick leaves above his head, most becoming trapped amongst the layers of foliage and trees. From behind glowing mushrooms, wild Impidimps watch Hop with curious eyes, quickly scurrying off as the boy catches their gazes.

Hop swallows the nervousness that creeps up on him. Sure, it’s a bit freaky here, with so much light coming only from the pretty glowing mushrooms, but other than that, this place is really pretty! Why would his mom worry about him exploring?

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots something interesting. A single flower, petals pristine and white, lay undamaged, just a few meters off the path. Despite his better judgement, he strays, bends down, and picks up the flower. It’s really pretty… he’s not sure what it is, but his mom probably does! He’ll have to bring it home and ask her!

Something else catches his eye; another flower, the same as before, just a little bit deeper into the forest. Without thinking about it, Hop runs over to it and picks it up; maybe he can get a whole bunch for his mom! She’d like that! Yeah, he’s gonna get her a whole bunch of these pretty white flowers!

He doesn’t realize how far he’s wandering; it’s almost as if someone has left a trail, a beautiful trail of pristine flowers, just for him! Hop stays crouched low to the ground, scooping up the pretty flowers without a care in the world, unaware that the path has long since disappeared behind him. He knows which way he came from, after all! He’ll be able to find his way back, no problem!

Hop momentarily looks up from his flower-collecting frenzy, and realizes with a start that he’s made himself hopelessly lost. His stomach drops; mom is gonna be so sad… what is he gonna do? Maybe he can find his way back, retrace his steps… he can’t let mom be sad! Tears well up in Hop’s eyes, and he does what any six year-old would do when lost in an eerie forest. He falls to his knees, and starts sobbing, still clutching the flowers close to his chest. He’s gonna end up just like Leon, he’s never gonna come back home, and mom is gonna be so sad…

“Are you lost?”

Hop frantically wipes his eyes at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. He looks up, meeting the eyes of a boy who looks to be about his age. The boy looks down at him, platinum blonde hair reflecting the glowing lights of the forest, violet eyes wide and curious, and… glowing? Sure enough, his eyes are glowing, not unlike the mushrooms that grow around them.

“Uh… yeah? I just wanted to find pretty flowers for my mum, but… I got lost,” Hop admits, surprised as the mysterious boy kneels beside him, still gazing rather curiously at him with those glowing eyes. He seems to be rather fascinated with Hop, simply observing him for a few seconds, not seeming to mean any harm.

“Are you a human?” he asks, suddenly, and Hop is instantly confused. Sure, anyone with glowing purple eyes is definitely a little to the left of being human, but the thought hadn’t occurred at all to the young boy. Still, he nods his head, and watches as the boy’s eyes light up; metaphorically, of course, seeing as his eyes already glow.

“Really? That’s so cool! I’ve never gotten to talk to a human!” the boy exclaims, a smile splitting across his face, almost akin to that of a Skitty’s, full of childlike innocence and wonder, sparkling and almost magical in its awe. “My father tells me that I’m not s’pposed to talk to humans… he says you’re dangerous…”

The boy seems sad about this, Hop notices, eyes losing their spark. He’s known the mystery boy for about one minute, but nobody deserves to be sad! He scoots closer to the boy, offering his best smile, “I’m not dangerous! What’s your name?”

Sure enough, the boy perks up, smile returning to his pale face, eyes regaining their lustre, “M’name’s Bede! What about you?”

Bede. An interesting name, and certainly not one that Hop has ever heard before, but it oddly suits the boy kneeling beside him. He seems happy to talk to Hop, which he finds the slightest bit odd, considering he had just stumbled upon him crying his eyes out over a handful of flowers, but he pays that no mind, considering that someone actually seems happy to talk to him.

“Everyone calls me Hop!” he replies, oddly comfortable around this complete stranger, oddly comfortable kneeling beside the boy wrapped in purple silks. “It’s not my real name, but everyone calls me that!”

Bede nods, stays quiet for a few seconds, commits Hop’s name to memory. He looks down at the bundle of flowers in Hop’s hands, and his smile grows wider, the corners of his eyes crinkling upwards, “You found the flowers I left!”

Hop nods enthusiastically, proudly displaying the white petals on his hands and looking at them like they’re his most prized possession, “Yeah! I was getting them for my mom!”

“I can make ‘em better for you, if you want!” Bede offers, taking Hop’s hands in his and clasping them tightly. Hop’s eyes widen as Bede’s scrunch up in concentration, as a pleasant tingling envelops his palms, as a soft violet glow illuminates their faces. When Bede pulls his hands away, Hop is amazed to find that a majority of the flowers aren’t white anymore, stained in beautiful pastel lilacs and blues, lush and enticing.

“Whoa! How’d you do that?” he asks, dumbfounded. Bede laughs in response, and it reminds Hop of the tinkling of soft bells, airy and light, so beautifully innocent.

“Magic,” Bede replies, in full seriousness, and Hop is inclined to believe him. He certainly can’t think of any other reason for flowers suddenly changing colours right before his eyes, so he supposes that magic is really the only option. Besides, the flowers are prettier now, and his mom will like them even more!

“Awesome…” he whispers, mystified by the pretty flowers that lay in his hands, perfectly coloured and silken, a picturesque ideal of what flowers should look like.

“You said you were lost, right? Follow me, I’ll lead you back to the paths!”

Hop’s tranquility is broken by Bede’s voice, and he looks up to see that the boy has stood up, offering a hand to him. Hop takes it without a moment’s hesitation and a nod, and allows Bede to lead him in between trees and rose bushes, in between glowing mushrooms taller than they are, and soon enough, he finds himself back on the path.

“It was great to meet you!” Bede says with a wave, turning to run back into the forest, “I wanna see you again, but I’ve gotta go before my father finds out I’ve been talking to you! Bye!”

With that, Bede takes off into the forest, and Hop is left on the path, smiling after the mysterious boy, still clutching the bundle of flowers close to his chest. He should get home, he doesn’t want his mom to worry…

Hop runs down the pathway back to Ballonlea, beaming the entire time. Mom isn’t gonna believe this! He made a new friend, and he’s super nice! He’s magical!

With that in mind, Hop runs with a spring in his step, eager to tell his mother of the sweet boy he encountered deep in the Tangle.

Bede carefully steps around crimson roses, taking utmost care to not step on fragile petals, on razor-sharp thorns, the ones that only exist in the furthest outskirts of the garden. It won’t do to bleed all over the flowers, after all, he’s known this fact for as long as he can remember.

“Father!” he calls out to the man nestled amongst tall bushes of scarlet, mocha skin left unblemished by eerily thornless roses, “Guess what!”

His father, the man known only as Rose, smiles at his son, twirling a flower that is his namesake in between the fingers of his left hand, “Do tell, my son.”

From a distance, his consort watches, a quiet, demure woman with lips the colour of his roses and eyes like precious gems. She says nothing, simply watching, observing the father and son with a keen eye. Her thin eyebrows furrow, arms crossing in front of her chest. Bede does his best to not meet her eerie gaze.

“I met a human today!” Bede exclaims, unsurprised as his father’s face falls, as the rose in his hand grows thorns in a second, piercing into delicate skin. He drops it without so much as a flinch, simply shaking out his now-wounded hand with a frown.

“Bede, my boy, what have I always told you about speaking to humans?” he asks, approaching Bede and crouching down to meet his eyes, taking his chin in his hand. Bede swallows nervously, returning his father’s emerald gaze the best he can, clenching his jaw out of nerves.

“I know, but he was super nice, and-“

His father holds out a hand, a signal for him to stop talking, which he does. His father allows a smile to return to his face, though it doesn’t reach his eyes, and he caresses his son’s cheek with his uninjured hand, near-sickening in its saccharine fondness. Everything about the man is soaked and done up in sweet, sweet fondness, like that of the sweet cream that Bede isn’t allowed to try until he’s older, so endlessly sugary and kind.

“My son, humans are dangerous. They care not for you, don’t let one boy convince you otherwise.” A tired sigh. “Father knows best, okay? You’re safe here.”

Albeit reluctant, Bede nods, biting back the petty argument that rests on his tongue. He wants to tell his father that no, Hop is really nice, actually, but he knows that will only end in Rose’s explosive temper being directed at him. For now, it’s best to stay quiet.

“I… I understand, father.”

Rose claps his hands, finally allows his smile to reach his eyes, stands up, “Excellent! I trust that you won’t go out of your way to find this boy again, correct?”

Bede nods in place of answer, managing a smile as his father fondly ruffles his hair. Beside him, his consort, the lovely, tall lady that she is, sidles up, as quiet and unassuming as ever. She offers the smallest of smiles to Bede, lips the colour of blood turning upwards, barely even noticeable. His father smiles, and gestures for the two of them to take their leave.

“Come, Oleana. You _must _come see what I’ve found!”__

__She nods, trails behind him as he leaves, and Bede is left alone in the garden of thornless roses, amidst petals of blood and vines of confinement._ _


	2. pink flowers grow from my skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bede comes to find that Hop truly doesn't care for rules of any kind. He doesn't have a problem with this, however.

Bede has come to live by several golden rules in his six years of life.

Never leave the Tangle. Father says the world beyond the dark forest is harsh and cruel, it isn’t safe to leave. He can only leave when he’s older, and even then, it’s a maybe.

Don’t speak with humans. They care not for you, father says, they will use you and cast you aside when they are done. They are never to be trusted, under any circumstances. It’s best for him to steer clear, to let father lead them away with sweet words to where they will never return.

Of course, Bede finds that the human boy he’s befriended is more than happy to let him break these rules, to let him be unapologetically himself, unrestrained by roses of blood and emerald eyes. Every few days, the boy comes, bearing that same wide grin as always, bearing the news of the town he hails from. Bede would love to see the town, but if his father were to find out… he doesn’t even want to know how upset he’d be.

His father certainly knows of Hop by now; he hasn’t said anything, but Bede can feel it. He tells Hop to be careful when he leaves, tells him not to follow any trails of roses he might find, as pretty as they may be. He doesn’t want to lose the only friend he’s ever had. Hop nods, even though he seems confused, and promises only to follow the trails of pretty pastel flowers that Bede leaves for him to follow.

“Come with me! To Ballonlea!” Hop says one day, rather suddenly. It’s a rather enticing offer, really; Bede has never seen the town, but if his father finds out…

“But, my father-“

Hop puts a finger to his lips, effectively silencing him. He laughs, bold and unashamed; everything about Hop is so unapologetically bold, so wonderfully pure, it’s something Bede can only dream of.

“Who cares about what your dad thinks!” Hop reassures him, “Ballonlea is still in the Tangle, so you’re technically not breaking any rules, right?”

That stops Bede for a second. Well, he’s not _wrong…_ his father can’t get mad if he doesn’t technically leave, right?

“C’mon! It’s great there!” Hop exclaims, grabbing his hand (is that allowed? Father tells him that hand-holding is done between two people who are close like the way he and Ms. Oleana are) and pulling him to his feet. Bede swallows his last doubts, smiling at Hop and returning the tight grip on his hand. Hop’s hands are soft, he perhaps unconsciously notes; almost like the warm hug of a Hatterene, silken and comforting.

“Only if you show me the way.” A bright smile. “I don’t know how to get there!”

Hop nods, and then he’s running through the forest and onto the well-worn pathways, dragging Bede behind him with a large grin blessing his face. Bede stumbles to keep up, even with Hop holding his hand; he’s _fast,_ almost annoyingly so.

The sounds of the deep forest fade, and for a second, it’s worrying; no longer can Bede hear the soft whispers of Hatenna, or the gleeful cackling of Impidimp. Instead, he can hear the sounds of people talking amongst themselves, of different Pokémon scampering about. The thought makes him almost giddy; finally, he can meet more humans! A voice in the back of his mind tells him that this is _wrong,_ that father will be _furious,_ but he pays it no mind; he’s simply far too excited to care.

“We’re here!” Hop exclaims, coming to a sudden stop. Bede almost slams into Hop’s back, but bites his tongue as he takes in the scene in front of him. Houses built in between the glowing mushrooms he loves to hide in, Pokémon walking alongside humans. Humans! They’re everywhere, milling about, chatting to each other, carrying bundles of food, holding much smaller humans… he can hardly believe his eyes.

He must be making quite the face, because Hop laughs, letting go of his hand and beckoning now for Bede to follow him, into the town with glowing lights and enrapturing humans, where the line between fantasy and reality is so perfectly blurred. He hesitates, closes his eyes, and reopens then after a second, watching as Hop’s own hazel eyes, almost golden like pools of sweet honey, widen.

“Whoa! Your eyes stopped glowing!”

It’s Bede’s turn to laugh, then, quiet and almost pathetic compared to Hop’s boisterous and unashamed laugh, a small smile finding its way onto his face, “Well, yeah! Some people are freaked out by them!”

“I’m not freaked out by them!” Hop retorts, briefly sticking his tongue out at Bede, “I think they’re _pretty!”_

Oh? Something twists inside of Bede, and he’s sure that a light pink has lit up his face. _Nobody_ has ever told him that his eyes are _pretty_ before, and it’s the sort of compliment that he isn’t really sure how to respond to. So, he settles on a small laugh, a quiet “Thanks,” and doesn’t say much more.

Hop beams, and beckons for Bede to follow him again, running off into the curious town of Ballonlea. Finally, Bede follows, running into town with a burst of sudden confidence he wasn’t aware he had.

It’s loud, but not in the way the forest is. The forest is alive with murmurs of Pokémon, with the soft whispers of father’s roses; it’s a quiet sort of loud, the sort that Bede is all too familiar with, the sort that draws humans in to where they will never return. Ballonlea, however, is _loud,_ alive with hundreds of conversations held by people going about their own lives, with the cries of Pokémon that Bede has never even _seen_ before; it’s impossible to ignore, and it’s so far from his definition of normal, but it calls to him like a moth to a flame, enticing in its own unique manner.

Hop leads him excitedly through town, pointing out things like “you’d like the flower shop, but the owner sort of doesn’t like _me_ after I knocked over a display,” which worries Bede a little bit, even after Hop tells him _not_ to worry about it. Eventually, they come to a stop, and Hop makes sure he gives Bede enough space so as not to slam into his back.

“I really wanted to show you this!” Hop exclaims, gesturing to a large square, teeming with people and Pokémon alike, clustered in groups around… stalls? It’s an unfamiliar sight to Bede, who isn’t used to such large crowds, but he’s curious nonetheless.

“What is this?” Bede asks, and he almost smacks himself when his voice comes out meek, quiet. Hop seems unfazed, merely beaming at him, almost bouncing on his feet.

“It’s a market! They’ve got stuff from the whole region here! My mum gave me some money to buy stuff, and I know you wanna see things, so now you can see things from all over!”

It’s probably the most considerate thing anyone has ever done for him; especially considering how father keeps him away from most contact with humans, with anything outside the forest’s familiarity. Before he can process anything, Hop’s grabbed his hand again, still smiling. That seems to be his default; a large smile, so boldly _happy,_ not at all like his own practiced neutrality.

“C’mon! Let’s get something to eat, I’m starving!” Hop exclaims, and then he’s dragging Bede through the crowd, chirping apologies as he accidentally bumps into people, cooing at an odd Pokémon that reminds Bede of a flower bud, pointing out odd shirts with even odder symbols on them. “They’re jerseys!” Hop exclaims, as if that explains anything at all; Bede has absolutely no clue what that is. He doesn’t question Hop, though, because if anyone knows anything at all about human customs and culture, it’s him.

They stop in front of a stall that smells utterly _delicious,_ so delectably sweet, so much so that it almost makes Bede’s mouth water. Hop pulls him closer, waves to the Pokémon that seems to be made of cream that floats above the countertop of the stall, smiles brightly up at the elderly woman behind it.

“Hello, Ms. Opal!” he exclaims, waving to the woman, who smiles back, though her gaze falls to Bede; it’s the piercing sort of gaze, but not in the way that father and Ms. Oleana’s are; she’s simply observing, committing Bede’s face to memory. Much to his own surprise, he doesn’t squirm in discomfort as the elderly woman gazes upon him; there is no malice behind her pale eyes. They know something, however, they hold secrets and memories of a life long-lived.

“My, you seem to have made a friend,” she says to Hop, gesturing to Bede with her right hand, which is gloved in pink and black, save for her thumb. It’s an interesting glove, Bede decides, and he thinks he’d quite like one of his own, luck permitted. He offers the smallest of smiles to the woman, hoping he doesn’t come across as shy, unapproachable.

“Uh, hi! M’name’s Bede,” he murmurs. She smiles, and in an instant, Bede feels a pang of something sharp in his chest; she knows what he is, and he had hardly said a word. This woman called Ms. Opal, with her odd glove and her hair so snowy white, is one of _them,_ choosing to live among humans. She nods at him, barely noticeable, and for a brief moment, her eyes sparkle, gone in a flash.

Then, she turns her gaze back to Hop, “Please, child, you mustn’t be so formal. I’d hate for your new friend to be scared off because he thinks I’m some mean old crone!”

Hop laughs sheepishly, reaching into the pockets of his jacket that’s just a slight bit too big on him, his hands emerging with a rumpled up sheet of green paper. He stands on his tiptoes as he tries to pass it to Opal, “You’ve still got the fancy cookies with sugar on top, right? The ones y’sell when Gym Challengers start coming to fight you?”

Bede is instantly intrigued at Hop’s mention of a “Gym Challenge,” seeing as he’s never heard of such a thing in his life. And… fighting? Who would fight an old woman? He has a lot of questions, to say the least; he’ll ask Hop about it later. For now, though, he watches as Opal nods, refuses the slip of paper Hop tries to give her, and instead hands him a small bag.

“You needn’t worry about money at such a young age,” she tells him, patting his head, “just don’t let anyone know, though! I’m afraid that officials would have my head if it were to get out!”

Hop nods sagely, clutching the paper bag in his small hands, offering a “Thank you, Ms. Opal!” and beckoning for Bede to follow him. He does, of course, seeing as he doesn’t know his way around the town at all, and the pair ends up at some sort of seating area, if the numerous benches occupied by people are anything to go by. Hop instantly sits down, patting the empty space next to him, which Bede takes as an invitation to sit. He cautiously takes a seat next to Hop, watching curiously as he opens up the bag, reaching in a hand and emerging with… something. It certainly smells delicious, and it looks nice, with the small sugar crystals on top of the perfectly browned surface.

“What is it?” Bede asks, although he still gingerly takes the object from Hop’s hand. Said boy gasps, dramatically placing a small hand over his chest, and for a second, Bede thinks he’s actually offended him. Said concern is instantly washed away, however, when Hop smiles, laughing a small bit.

“Just try it!”

Bede listens to Hop, and does, in fact, try it. His eyes widen as a sugary-sweet taste instantly fills his mouth, not too sweet, and yet still utterly delicious. He must be making quite the face, if Hop’s laugh is any indication, and yet he can’t find it in himself to care.

“It’s good, right?” Hop asks, grinning brightly at Bede, seemingly unaware of the small crumbs that litter his cheeks. Bede nods, reaching a hand out to brush the crumbs off of Hop’s face, smiling as a slight pink dusts his cheeks; it reminds him of some of the pale pink flowers he creates for fun. It’s a pretty colour, Bede notes in the back of his mind; he’ll have to make a flower that perfectly matches it later.

Then, Hop grabs his hand again, “There’s so much stuff I wanna show you! Let’s go!”

Bede allows himself to be dragged off by Hop, unable to stop the laughter that bubbles up from his chest, the wide smile that splits across his face. He’s having fun, he realizes, worries about what his father will think momentarily pushed to the back of his mind. Right now, he doesn’t need to worry about that.

“Your father is quite cross with you.”

It’s when Bede is curled up against a tree, petting one of the new baby Hatenna, that Oleana finds him, eyes like emeralds piercing into his being like tiny knives. He instinctively shrinks under her cold gaze, subconsciously hugging the tiny Hatenna closer to his body. Oleana settles on sitting next to him, ever-so-slightly smiling as one of the baby Ponyta comes crashing through the underbrush to greet her, nuzzling into her side with a soft whinny.

“He wants that human boy to meet with a rather unpleasant fate, you know,” she continues, rose-red lips pursed into a flat line. Bede cringes at her words, frowning deeply at the thought of his father doing to Hop what he’s already done to so many humans in the past. He sighs, curling his body into a tight ball and hugging the Hatenna impossibly close to his body.

“I know,” he mumbles, not looking up to meet Oleana’s gaze. It’s her turn to sigh, then, and he can hear her quiet frustration that subtly slips through her frigid exterior, “I just… don’t get why father doesn’t want me to talk to him. He’s really nice!”

He’s never mentioned Hop’s name; he doesn’t want his father to have any dominion over the sweet boy he’s tentatively befriended. Oleana sighs again, and Bede finally does look up, unsurprised to see her pinching her brow exasperatedly, lips curled into a slight frown. Her hair falls in sheets around her, and she almost looks like one of the Unseelie, eerie and bitter. He doesn’t say this out loud, of course; father has made sure they associate with no courts for a reason, after all.

“He does not want you to inevitably get hurt, young Bede. It is for your own good that he protects you so.”

Oleana stands up, then, and leaves, the young Ponyta trailing behind her, yet again leaving Bede only in the company of the forest and the creature in his lap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayy sorry this took so long!! school has been beating my ass but here's chapter two!  
> \- fae lore states that if a fairy knows a person's name, they hold power over that person. this is why bede hasn't told rose or oleana what hop's name is  
> \- opal is a fairy because i said so  
> I hope y'all enjoyed this!!


End file.
